Getting my first L46 on sunday, any friendly advice?
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mrwickedweasel
- Newbie
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Tue May 16, 2006 10:26 pm
- Location: Crawley
Getting my first L46 on sunday, any friendly advice?
Hi all this is my first post, i have a large collection of plecos in a 110 gallon along with a mbu puffer. I also have a 40 gallon trigon which is very well estabished and has been running for 10 months now. This tank will become home to my first zebra on sunday. I know you will get this all the time, but is there any advice you guys could give me. Theres some many different options out there, but i would really like to know the really facts, so i can give this little 2.5 inch guy the best start to his/her new life. The 40 gallon has a L96 in it at the moment(which is being rehomed tomorrow) and various tetras and barbs. The only other fish in this tank are 2 elephant nose's. I am not too sure if i should remove these also. I am currently keeping the following plecos. 2x L191, 2xL114, L25, L27, L90, L253, L96, L320, gibby and L14. These range in size from the smallest, L253 at 3inch to the biggest, L25 at 15 inch. Like i said any help would be great. The L46 will be the only pleco in the 40 gallon, for now. The ph is 7.2, no-2 and no-3 are zero, gh >10d and kh >6d. The tank contains loads of planted bogwood and java fern. No rocks at the moment but will be added before sunday as these are well liked, ive been told. Any info, little or small will be greatfully received. Thanks guys.
Getting my first L46 on sunday
I can't answer all of your questions but I'll just tell you what I know from my own experience and what I've read and heard.
As far as other plecs, I personally would be wary especially with other hypancistrus species. I have heard of the zebras being killed by their more assertive cousins. I personally would not take the risk. I might chance it with a really peaceful type, like maybe a Farlowella or something. But I'd be careful with any of the more boisterous plecs. And if you want to breed, I'd avoid cories and other catfish that will make a quick snack of the eggs.
Zebras are also a bit shy at feeding times and may not get enough to eat if there are other bottom feeders that are a bit pushier. I had a few guppies in with my zebras for a while and they were the greediest things in the world. They would totally wolf any of the nice meaty food I'd put down for my zebras. So they had to be moved. As peaceful and harmless as a guppy is, it turned out to not be a good choice to keep with my zebs.
My first two zebs were in a display tank in the shop with a bunch of Serpae Tetras who were taking chunks out of the poor zebras fins. They were ragged when I first bought them. Bearing that in mind I would be most careful if I decided to put any tetras in with them, taking care to choose only very peaceful types, avoiding the nippy varieties. I have some Harlequin Rasboras in with mine and they cause no trouble at all.
As far as tank "furniture", your zeb will most definitely appreciate some hiding places. I have layers of slate and several caves (I have around 6 adult fish plus youngsters). Your zeb will mostly come out at night and so needs a nice dark, secure hiding place for the daytime.
And a quick summary of tank conditions... temp should be warm. I keep mine around 86F. They like a good flow rate, so boosting your flow with a powerhead might be a good idea. I used to rely solely on my spraybar as I have big Eheim on their tank, but having now added a powerhead, I can see they like the added current and in fact, I had another spawn within a couple weeks of the powerhead going in! I think the zebs are pretty adaptable to pH, though I think they do better in neutral to a bit lower, but I don't think there's a hard and fast rule for this. They seem to be spawning in different conditions. They do like to dig around in sand, though whether or not you decide to put a substrate in your tank is up to you. I personally keep mine bare so that cleaning is easier - the babies need immaculate conditions and having sand can lead to trapped, rotting food and dead pockets in the sand, which isn't very good for the babies. So I just leave it out. It would probalby LOOK better with sand, but my zeb tank is upstairs out of the way so looks don't matter that much. The way my tank is set up, I can scan all the nooks and crannies and have sight of each of my fish when I want to check on them.
Food - as always, a good variety is important. But Zebras do enjoy a meaty diet. They are not algae eaters. There are many posts about feeding which I would advise you browse through. Including one about the forum "recipe" which is a food some of us make up ourselves using mussel, prawn/shrimp, and a bit of veg and garlic. It's a nice high protein, meaty feed which they seem to like and do well on. But frozen prepared foods are good too - bloodworm, mysis, etc. I also feed a variety of different catfish pellets. You can tell they ones they don't like because they get left behind!
Well, that is my own experience - though not a complete "how to" guide for your zeb, I hope it helps a little bit. I'm sure others will want to add more from their experiences with this wonderful little fish...
As far as other plecs, I personally would be wary especially with other hypancistrus species. I have heard of the zebras being killed by their more assertive cousins. I personally would not take the risk. I might chance it with a really peaceful type, like maybe a Farlowella or something. But I'd be careful with any of the more boisterous plecs. And if you want to breed, I'd avoid cories and other catfish that will make a quick snack of the eggs.
Zebras are also a bit shy at feeding times and may not get enough to eat if there are other bottom feeders that are a bit pushier. I had a few guppies in with my zebras for a while and they were the greediest things in the world. They would totally wolf any of the nice meaty food I'd put down for my zebras. So they had to be moved. As peaceful and harmless as a guppy is, it turned out to not be a good choice to keep with my zebs.
My first two zebs were in a display tank in the shop with a bunch of Serpae Tetras who were taking chunks out of the poor zebras fins. They were ragged when I first bought them. Bearing that in mind I would be most careful if I decided to put any tetras in with them, taking care to choose only very peaceful types, avoiding the nippy varieties. I have some Harlequin Rasboras in with mine and they cause no trouble at all.
As far as tank "furniture", your zeb will most definitely appreciate some hiding places. I have layers of slate and several caves (I have around 6 adult fish plus youngsters). Your zeb will mostly come out at night and so needs a nice dark, secure hiding place for the daytime.
And a quick summary of tank conditions... temp should be warm. I keep mine around 86F. They like a good flow rate, so boosting your flow with a powerhead might be a good idea. I used to rely solely on my spraybar as I have big Eheim on their tank, but having now added a powerhead, I can see they like the added current and in fact, I had another spawn within a couple weeks of the powerhead going in! I think the zebs are pretty adaptable to pH, though I think they do better in neutral to a bit lower, but I don't think there's a hard and fast rule for this. They seem to be spawning in different conditions. They do like to dig around in sand, though whether or not you decide to put a substrate in your tank is up to you. I personally keep mine bare so that cleaning is easier - the babies need immaculate conditions and having sand can lead to trapped, rotting food and dead pockets in the sand, which isn't very good for the babies. So I just leave it out. It would probalby LOOK better with sand, but my zeb tank is upstairs out of the way so looks don't matter that much. The way my tank is set up, I can scan all the nooks and crannies and have sight of each of my fish when I want to check on them.
Food - as always, a good variety is important. But Zebras do enjoy a meaty diet. They are not algae eaters. There are many posts about feeding which I would advise you browse through. Including one about the forum "recipe" which is a food some of us make up ourselves using mussel, prawn/shrimp, and a bit of veg and garlic. It's a nice high protein, meaty feed which they seem to like and do well on. But frozen prepared foods are good too - bloodworm, mysis, etc. I also feed a variety of different catfish pellets. You can tell they ones they don't like because they get left behind!
Well, that is my own experience - though not a complete "how to" guide for your zeb, I hope it helps a little bit. I'm sure others will want to add more from their experiences with this wonderful little fish...
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mrwickedweasel
- Newbie
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Tue May 16, 2006 10:26 pm
- Location: Crawley
